Posted by Tina
I wouldnt presume to place my imaginings into the former presidents head after all, he was a gentleman and he always greeted guests at the White House with respect and dignity. Despite occasional lapses into creative English he was appropriate when meeting with friends and allies around the world; he was even respectful toward our enemies. But I confess, I cant help picturing GWB flying through the hills on his mountain bike and smiling broadly at the missteps and gaffs of the current crop of leaders, particularly in the area of diplomacy. The MSM is loath to tell us about these flubs but I don’t mind discussing them here…for instance:
Global meltdown no sweat for Obama, by Mark Steyn Orange County Register
** The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thought long and hard about what gift to bring on his visit to the White House last week. Barack Obama is the first African American president, so the prime minister gave him an ornamental desk-pen holder hewn from the timbers of one of the Royal Navy’s anti-slaving ships of the 19th century, HMS Gannet. **
** Even more appropriate, in 1909 the Gannet was renamed HMS President. *** The president’s guest also presented him with the framed commission for HMS Resolute, the lost British ship retrieved from the Arctic and returned by America to London, and whose timbers were used for a thank-you gift Queen Victoria sent to Rutherford Hayes: the handsome desk that now sits in the Oval Office. *** And, just to round things out, as a little stocking stuffer, Gordon Brown gave President Obama a first edition of Sir Martin Gilbert’s seven-volume biography of Winston Churchill. *** In return, America’s head of state gave the prime minister 25 DVDs of “classic American movies.” *** Evidently, the White House gift shop was all out of “MY GOVERNMENT DELEGATION WENT TO WASHINGTON AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT” T-shirts. Still, the “classic American movies” set is a pretty good substitute, and it can set you back as much as $38.99 at Wal-Mart… I’ll be interested to know if Mr. Brown has anything to play the films on back home, since U.S.-format DVDs don’t work in United Kingdom DVD players. **
I’m not sure this president does embarrasement. To be certain he won’t be called out for this horrendous flub by CNN or MSNBC. They will chuckle and act as if it’s cute or endearing. Do read the entire Steyn article; he is very funny and absolutely on the mark.
The next article comes to us from Reuters and Hillary is the star gaffer this time:
Tongue-tied Clinton gets warm EU welcome, by David Brunnstrom Reuters
** BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton raised eyebrows on her first visit to Europe as secretary of state when she mispronounced her EU counterparts’ names and claimed U.S. democracy was older than Europe’s. *** Clinton has set herself a gruelling pace on visits to Egypt, Israel and Brussels soon after touring the Far East, attending dozens of meetings and giving speech after speech, with little time worked into her schedule for sleep. *** Tiredness appeared to show on Friday when she answered questions in front of 500 young Europeans at the European Parliament, where she was the highest-ranking U.S. visitor since the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1985. *** A veteran politician, Clinton compared the complex European political environment to that of the two-party U.S. system, before adding: “I have never understood multiparty democracy. *** “It is hard enough with two parties to come to any resolution, and I say this very respectfully, because I feel the same way about our own democracy, which has been around a lot longer than European democracy.” *** The remark provoked much headshaking in the parliament of a bloc that likes to trace back its democratic tradition thousands of years to the days of classical Greece. *** One working lunch later with EU leaders, Clinton raised more eyebrows when she referred to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who stood beside her, as “High Representative Solano”. *** She also dubbed European Commission External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as “Benito”. **
Just to round things out until the next major goof heres an entire page of Joe Biden gaffs at a site called Joe Biden Bloopers
So I ask you…whos chortling now? I know its not just me…